"Class, if you have questions, you can also ask an AI." Professor Chen stopped short. Realizing what he'd said, he gave a wry laugh. "My mistake. You all probably started using AI before I did. After all, it's much easier for young people to accept new things than it is for us."
"Professor!" Someone suddenly raised their hand. After Professor Chen nodded, the student immediately stood up. "I'd like to ask a question! AI has only existed for a few years, but even so, it has already shown terrifying potential. If it continues to develop like this, I'm afraid AI will be able to completely replace humans in the future… or at least replace ninety percent of human jobs."
"When that happens, will what we're learning still be useful? If we enter the workforce now, we'll likely end up unemployed. What's going to happen if things keep developing this way?"
"The only jobs AI can't seem to replace are things like manual labor and janitorial work. If the future keeps heading in this direction… what's the point of studying? What's the point of university? If graduating just means we'll end up doing manual labor, wouldn't it be better to just join the workforce right after high school?"
"That's a good question." Professor Chen's expression turned serious. He thought for a long while, organizing his thoughts. "Studying is never a mistake. Right now, AI is an amplifier. The stronger your own abilities are, the more power you can leverage with AI."
"As for the future… I'm sorry, but I can't give you a concrete answer!" Professor Chen was very frank. He added humorously, "Perhaps it would be more appropriate to ask your political ideology professor than me? Of course, personally, I believe you can trust the country on this matter."
"If it really comes to that, the country will certainly roll out policies to address it! And as for studying… although this may sound a bit sanctimonious, studying isn't just about finding a job. It's about strengthening your own abilities, and then using those strong personal abilities to find a suitable job."
The student who had asked the question opened his mouth, but in the end, he just nodded resentfully and sat back down. To be fair, he wasn't satisfied with the professor's answer, but Professor Chen had spoken with such sincerity that he could only accept it.
"Gotta say, even though most of that was nonsense, I think old Chen made one good point," Lin Xia muttered quietly to Chu Bamboo.
"?" Chu Bamboo shot him a questioning look.
"'Sanctimonious'!"
The corner of Chu Bamboo's mouth twitched, but then he realized something, and his mind started racing. 'Wait, the future… What will AI develop into?'
It was actually a very interesting topic…
'Could it completely replace humanity?'
'If… if my dream really is of the future! That's right, the AI.' A strange emotion surged within Chu Bamboo. 'If it's truly the future, and if I can find an AI to talk to… could I ask it how many years lie between the Dream World and the Real World? And what happened to make it look like that?'
Finally, class was over.
Next, of course, was changing classrooms for other courses. Everything was the same as usual.
This continued until after lunch.
As it happened, there were no classes that afternoon.
Chu Bamboo dragged Lin Xia to the athletic field.
"Hey, are you dragging me here to work out with you?" Lin Xia's eye twitched as he threw his hands up in surrender. "I'm famously lazy! How about we just forget it?"
"That's not it." Chu Bamboo shook his head. "Help me time something. I want to clock my exact running speed."
Lin Xia: "?"
'Seriously? You had nothing better to do, so you dragged me all the way out here… just for this?'
"It's not that I won't do it, but you have to treat me to dinner!" Lin Xia tried to bargain.
"I don't mind! But," Chu Bamboo calmly adjusted his collar, "I have a feeling that you'll be the one fighting to treat me by the end of this."
Lin Xia: "? In your dreams."
It was late spring, and the plastic running track, having baked in the morning Sun, felt slightly hot and stuffy. Chu Bamboo didn't even warm up. He just scuffed his feet lightly and nodded at Lin Xia beside him.
"Go!" Lin Xia swore that the moment he pressed the stopwatch, he thought he was hallucinating. Chu Bamboo shot off like an arrow. This wasn't just fast; it was absurd.
「On the other side of the field.」
Inside a physical education office.
The PE teacher, Zhang Song, pushed up his glasses, put down his pen, and stretched. "Finally done filling out these gym forms! The university students these days… they're really getting weaker and weaker."
Just as he stood up, he saw a shadow. WHOOSH! It shot past his window. "???"
"What the hell was that?!" Zhang Song even wondered if he was hallucinating. He stood stunned for a long moment before quickly opening the door and rushing out. Then he saw the dense crowd.
There were always a lot of students on the field. Even though it wasn't evening yet, many couples from the school would come here for a stroll.
"Where did they go? That person just now…" Zhang Song kept looking around and soon spotted someone running on the other side of the field. But that speed…
'Did… did they cut across the field? If they cut through the middle, that speed would be understandable… but if they were running along the track, that speed!' Zhang Song did a quick calculation in his head and broke out in a cold sweat.
But soon, he saw the two figures in the distance leaving the field.
"Wait… students, hey students, don't go yet! The students over there!" Zhang Song grew anxious and immediately gave chase. But it was useless. There were quite a few students on the field, and many who were closer to him just looked at him in confusion.
Some people even waved at him tentatively, confused, and started to gather around, forcing him to go around them.
By the time he rushed to the other side of the field…
There wasn't even a shadow of them left.
"…What a mess." Zhang Song was silent for a long moment. He looked at his own palm, then suddenly slapped himself hard across the face. "Serves you right for spacing out! For spacing out! For spacing out…"
After a good while, Zhang Song finally managed to calm down. 'But still… could there really be a student in this school with that much potential for track and field?'
'If there was, shouldn't they have been discovered in previous school tests? Or is it a new student who just enrolled…'
'But if a new student really had that kind of ability, they'd have to be a sports-focused student, right? There's no way I wouldn't know about them.'
"I'll check the files!" Zhang Song took a deep breath, made his decision, and started running back toward his office. But he quickly realized something. "Right, if it was in their files, there's no way I wouldn't already know them… so, I can go to the security office! They have recordings… I can probably even estimate the speed from the video."
"I have to be quick! What if that student isn't from our school… no, it's more likely they *aren't* from our school! I can't let them get away."
Zhang Song hurriedly changed direction.